Behind the mirror
by Moira Bianchi
Summary: Geographic distance can t keep Will Darcy and Lizzy Bennett apart. Neither can their much too different nature. "Cause there you stood and I would, Oh I wonder could I say how I felt, And not be misunderstood, A thousand stars came into my system..."


Hi people!

I've been bad these last couple of weeks...

First, happy 2013!

Then I have to tell you that I've been busy promoting my book 'Friendship of a special kind', lecturing at the Jane Austen Society of Brasil meeting and finishing a thrilling new story.

This small one that I post now is a teaser for this new story and was my entry at the Bicentenary celebration blog hop we had last Monday.

Hope you like this tease... _Comments and reviews?_

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**Behind the mirror**

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_Cause there you stood and I would  
Oh I wonder could I say how I felt  
And not be misunderstood_

**"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. I'm pleased to inform that we are on schedule and our landing procedures will start in a few minutes. Weather at our destination is agreeable 32°C, 89°F. Please enjoy the rest of your flight. Thank you."**

Ten hours gone by and William Darcy was finally getting close to Elizabeth Bennett. After four days apart even the landing, disembarking and customs procedures seemed like too long a stretch separating Darcy from the woman who was keeping him on a tight leash since he had met her.

Maybe not 'since he had met her', but it was not long after he had first glimpsed the beautiful brunette with long dark hair flying at the mercy of the morning sea breeze as she sat alone sipping coffee at the cute coffee shop he accidentally stopped by on his way to the office.

Between his professional responsibilities and sports training, there wasn't much time left for him to explore what San Francisco had to offer his organic taste for healthy food. He kept to what his secretary ordered for him, rarely making any variation on the menu.

Even though he was an heir of one of the top twenty biggest fortunes on the US, Darcy was not idly waiting his family's money fall in his lap. He was a proactive and ambitious twenty eight years old advertiser who worked hard to be known as a shark in his line of business and not merely as a goldfish in a crystal tank.

His wealthy family didn't approve of his professional ideals, but there was nothing any of them could say to deter him from his already sketched life plan. Therefore, he accepted to be transferred from Chicago to San Francisco when his company - Derby adverts - needed him to appease a very difficult client who owned a major chain of health clubs on the West coast. He faced bravely the idea of leaving his comfortable home, family and small circle of friends to take the task on behalf of his professional career, even if enduring such a major revolution was not his cup of tea.

Earl Matlock was a renowned advertiser and knew that Darcy who was a triathlon enthusiast with several medals to show off would be the perfect man to handle this account. Matlock suspected Darcy to be merely keeping pace in his office until he decided to fly solo, so the boss would better use the millionaire kid's brilliant mind while he could in spite of the young man's taciturn disposition.

It was clear to everyone who knew Darcy that he struggled to have a professional congeniality which he did not possess outside the meeting rooms. He took advantage of his height and athletic built to impress clients and associates making sure his ideas were heard. His history in triathlon competitions was quite impressive as well, no one doubted the amount of dedication and physical effort required to succeed in this sport. That gave the clear picture of William Darcy's character: a committed and strong minded guy.

Darcy saw in San Francisco's job as creative leader an opportunity to climb towards the presidency so his shrewd business side jumped into it.

His 'Fairy Godmother Project' was brilliant in its simplicity: they would choose a simple plain woman and transform her body through extensive exercising to make her proof and role model of the health club's excellence. It was simple, elegant, medium budget required as well as transparent as she would train at the actual branches so to inspire both the users and the general public.

Bourg, the difficult client, approved of the project on the spot although he suggested some small insubstantial modifications which he called 'improvements'.

Darcy needed more than a month to make the foreign crew work to his standards but he finally had a juicy plan that was now in the legal department for formatting. Therefore, he finally had time to spare having meals outside his office.

Every day he drove past this charming coffee house on the shore when heading to the office but only three months after he moved to San Francisco he was able to stop by.

He parked, got into the coffee house and the fragrant aroma of hot rich coffee freshly brewed caressed his nostrils easing the discomfort his sore muscles gave him. When in dire straits as this new work schedule, the only luxury he conceded himself was to keep his training even though no competitions loomed close. Coffee was a small sin for a committed informal athlete, but he could not give it up.

Darcy ordered and took a seat at the patio outdoors choosing a quiet corner under a classy big crank parasol. He approved of the laid back upscale atmosphere of the place that allowed its' customers to enjoy the spring sun listening to the musical waves of the Pacific.

A young waiter arrived a few minutes later and asked him if the _mocha vanilla tall macchiato_ was his and Darcy haughtily answered that 'no one on his right mind would order such a concoction as it was an offense to good coffee'. The waiter frowned and stammered insisting that it was table six's order. Darcy raised his voice ever so slightly to make sure the waiter knew he was not a _dumbass to order such nonsense_.

At that he heard a throaty suave voice call out the waiter by his name and both men averted their eyes to a delicate hand with manicured bright blood red nails and the most bewitching profile Darcy had ever seen half turned to them. The voice entered his ears like an arrow that shot to his chest and reflexed south in his body.

Immediately the waiter smiled and chuckled saying to 'Lizzy' that it could only be hers, it was table nine, not six after all. He handed her the expensive coffee and they chatted amicably for a few minutes before the waiter left her alone. She kept at the last table on the patio, seated with her back to the other tables, feet raised on the railing and staring at the sea.

Darcy blushed all colors realizing the beautiful woman had overheard him. Not sure of what to do he stayed rooted to the spot very awkwardly observing her from the corner of his eyes, gulped his strong espresso when it was brought to him and left as quickly as soon as he could. Never mind his tongue and throat scorched.

It took him three days to return to the coffee house. He convinced himself it was only to make sure she was not as beautiful as he thought. He was wrong.

It took him a week to gather strength to apologize by means of prepaying for her next day's weird coffee. Taking care of arriving as early as possible to be at the coffee house before her, he saw her enter and order in a lovely smile and her surprise when the _barista_ told her it was already paid. She approached him and in a clipped tone thanked his gentle offer. He said it was an _'I'm sorry gift'_ to which she nodded as if in a barely civil regency courtesy and answered that he could have apologized immediately that same morning by drinking a tall mocha vanilla macchiato himself. She then pursed her lips with one brow raised at him and left.

It took him three more days of prepaid coffee to establish some light conversation and earn a wan smile from her. He thought it illuminated her face but not nearly as much as the beguiling green eyes this amazing tanned brunette sported. She asked him to stop paying her coffee, though. She liked the place and wouldn't want to stop going there every morning. He gathered all his courage to say he would if she accepted a date. The smile faded, she said she was not up to any dating and left.

It took him two more weeks to conquer her smile again and he was delighted to hear a spontaneous laugh when he burned his lips on his scorching espresso.

It took him one more month to extract a 'yes' out of Lizzy.

**"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Rio de Janeiro! It's four thirty three pm local time, a typical Spring sunny afternoon, no threats of rain, 31°C, 88°F. Please, for your safety, remain seated with you seat belts locked until the aircraft has completely stopped. Thank you for choosing this air flight company. On the behalf of the crew I say that we are most pleased to have you in Brazil and we hope your _Carioca days_ will be enjoyably filled with our finest Brazilian zest! This is your captain Austen speaking."**

Lizzy Bennett never doubted that through thick and thin her mother would have her back. After seven months exhaled in the US to cure a bad case of broken heart, Lizzy was now sprawled on her mother's king size bed and the two Bennett women chatted and giggled amicably easing how much one had missed the other.

Even though Elaine Bennett had the tendency to overreact first and then to overanalyze everything when her professional persona kicked in, she didn't do neither when her daughter got a phone call from this San Francisco friend she kept talking about since she arrived for a two week's visit a few days before. She had decided not to remind Lizzy of how much she disapproved of her decision of putting a halt on her professional career, or any other silly decision her only daughter had taken.

Lizzy had been a wild girl since very early. She always liked to run free and climb trees whenever her loving parents - the British diplomat Harold Bennett and the Brazilian Psychiatrist Elaine Garcia - took her to weekends in the country. As a child, more than once she escaped her parents' eyes and got lost at the beach.

By the time Lizzy was old enough to take care of her own she decided to backpack around the world searching new adventures anywhere she could find them. Visiting relatives in London she decided to visit Bath, Gretna Green and from there to Glen Coe in the Highlands of Scotland. She explored Rottnest Island in Australia, the Rice Terraces in Philippines, Bonito in the heart of Brazil. There were no borders to her free spirit.

She was impetuous, good humored, fast tongued. Elizabeth never really like her name, she said it was a grown up boring woman's name and 'Lizzy' sounded much more like her.

She was also a beautiful brunette with long curly hair that she took from her late father and sparkling green eyes she took from her mother. With her lovely body, men were easy preys to her need to experience the best in life and rarely did she accept a steady relationship. After a major heart break Lizzy thought the best remedy was to flee… but she wasn't counting on _fate_.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, as well as feared, that _fate_ has its twisted ways to dispose of our lives.

Flying her mother's car on the way to the International airport through Aterro do Famengo's highway Lizzy felt oddly at home. Rio was not as intimate to her since she decided to take two months off her practice as interior designer to put some distance between her and the lover she had ditched. So much have changed since then...

Seven months had gone by and she still had at least three more planned of her San Francisco adventure.

Only that morning she strolled her beloved Ipanema's streets with her mother, pleasantly window shopping and raveling on how much Rio fired up her system. She had underestimated its value in her general good mood as much as she had underestimated Darcy's friendship.

She and Darcy had become close friends since he had offered her the crazy proposition of being a model for his health club campaign. Even if he obeyed her when she forbade him of coming on to her again, he ended up honeying his way to her heart. He was a very charming man, Lizzy could not deny it.

Darcy was handsome and polite, very appealing. He respected her limits and still managed to enrapture her. Lizzy caught herself missing his laughs when relaxed with her as well as his shy and taciturn behavior when in public.

She missed his stoic persona.

She missed his inspired and acid comments when watching a movie. Lizzy marveled at the pleasure an ironic comment followed by a war of popcorn in the movie theater could bestow.

She missed his smile.

She even dreamt of those lips.

On her lips.

All over her body, actually.

**"Here sir, your passport and papers. Welcome to Rio de Janeiro."**

Lizzy was not what Darcy had first envisioned for this campaign. She was too beautiful; she had a pleasant figure that made him respond in every carnal way possible to a grown up man.

She was also adamant that no relationship besides friendship would be welcomed and if having her working for him was his only option with her, Darcy would have that. Gladly.

But just four days after she left to spend two weeks with her mother he could not deal with her absence and took a flight to Rio on an impulse.

Before Lizzy, William Darcy would never give in to his impulses but she was bewitching. Spending time with her was addictive, she made him laugh and want to make her laugh in return.

When he called her to let her know he was in Rio, even before the plane's doors were opened, he was happy to hear both surprise and delight in her voice. His chest and loins' response matched.

As he took purposeful long strides from the customs desk towards the arrivals gate he only anticipated those fine green eyes shining and smiling at him.

Elizabeth Bennett was in William Darcy's arms in no time.

... the end ...

**Reviews?**

I just posted, and this is crazy, but how about you comment... Maybe?


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